Written English includes two broad categories: standard and nonstandard. Standard English is used in education, government, business and industry, and all professions. It has rigorous and precise criteria for capitalization, diction, punctuation, spelling, and usage.
Nonstandard English does not conform to such standards; it is often regional in origin or reflects the special usages of a particular ethnic or social group. As a result, although it may be vigorous and colorful, its usefulness as a means of communication is limited to certain contexts and to people already familiar and comfortable with it in those contexts. It rarely appears in printed material except when it is used for special effect. Nonstandard English is characterized by inexact or inconsistent punctuation, capitalization, spelling, dic tion, and usage choices. It includes the following forms.
Colloquialisms: A colloquialism is a word or expression characteristic of casual conversation ("That test was a real bummer"). Colloquialisms are appropriate to some kinds of writing (personal letters, notes, and the like) but not to most formal or academic writing. (See also colloquial usage.)
Dialect: Dialectal English is a social or regional variety of the language that may be incomprehensible to outsiders. Dialect involves distinct word choices, grammatical forms, and pronunciations. Formal or academic writing, because it aims at a broad audience, should be free of dialect.
Localisms: A localism is a regional wording or phrasing. For example, a large sandwich on a long split roll is variously known throughout the United States as a hero, hoagie, grinder, poor boy, submarine, or torpedo. Because not all readers will be familiar with localisms, they should not be used in formal writing.
Slang: Slang is an informal vocabulary composed of facetious figures of speech and colorful words used in humorous or extravagant ways. There is no objective test for slang, and many standard words are given slang applications. For instance, slang may use a familiar word in a new way ("She told him to chill out meaning that she told him to relax), or it may coin new words ("He's a wonk" meaning that he works or studies excessively). Most slang is shortlived and has meaning only for a narrow audience. Thus, although slang may be valid in personal writing or fiction, it should be avoided in formal writing. (See also slang and neologisms.)
